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6 social media tips you should ignore

With so much social media advice available and so many social media “experts” clamoring to be heard, figuring out whom to listen to can be a real puzzle.

Some social-media “expertise” is pretty clearly not worth your time, though. If you hear someone offer any of these six tips as chapter and verse in the social media sphere, disregard.
1. You need to be present on all social networks.

If you have limited resources, don’t spread them out to maintain an active presence on all social media sites. Pick a platform based on where your buyers hang out and how specific services are likely to help your business. For instance, LinkedIn works well for the service sector, Pinterest works for companies that depend on a visual medium to spread their message, etc. Start slowly, and don’t go chasing shiny objects.

2. Email is extinct.

Email lives and thrives. Social media has helped make this so. Email is an essential part of lead nurturing and enables you to segment content. Despite what the charlatans say, for many people email is still the preferred channel for communication.

3. Social media has replaced SEO.

Social media has not replaced the need to optimize content for search engines. SEO and social media support each other. Social media posts show up in search results and influence page rankings, and properly optimized content increases traffic to your social media posts and profiles.

4. All your updates can be automated.

Social media activities can be time consuming, so automating updates seems appealing. Automation is great, to a point. However, social media is about interaction. It’s OK to automate content publishing such as your latest blog articles, but you still must have genuine interactions with the people in your network.

5. Send auto DMs to all your new followers.

I hate Twitter auto DMs, and frankly I can’t believe anyone still uses them. They are incredibly impersonal and are widely perceived as spam. Ditch auto DMs and anyone who recommends them.

According to Pew Research Center, 69 percent of adults use social media. Whether you’re working for a B2B or a B2C, a manufacturer or a service biz, your prospects are probably on social media. Apart from communicating with your existing and potential customers, you might also connect with influencers or journalists who are looking for an expert in your industry to interview for an upcoming story.